Another 'never cruise Carnival again' thread

[glrounds]

One last thing, Maybe if you sailed on one of Carnivals newer ships like the Valor your experience could of been different. I never sailed a Fantasy class because Im sure they are in need of repairs.

 

Fred

 

I think Fred has hit on the key to the entire complaint. Fantasy class ships, although the work horses of the Carnival fleet some years back (my personal favorite was always the ELATION), aren't the best ships these days. In many cases they appear "tired" and "worn out". They probably don't TEND to attract the best crewmen either.

One may get that same feeling with the RCCL ship out of LA doing the 3 and 4 day runs like the PARADISE is now doing. Its almost an LA cruise joke about taking RCCL's version of the PARADISE (sorry I can't recall the name of this RCI ship).

I thought the OP gave us an honest review. I'm amused by the "never again" swan song attitude, but that's typical when one is really upset about getting a bad vacation for their money. I agree, longer cruises on a new ship may change his/her opinion of Carnival, but the "never again" aspect (if its sincere) of the review eliminates the possibility of that happening. :rolleyes:

You must understand, folks, that ideally its to our advantage to have paxs right and left swearing they'll never take another Carnival cruise and then go elsewhere. If we could get this to occur on a larger scale, there would inevitably be lower cabin fares as Carnival scrambles to fill its ships each sailing. :D

Maybe my ex was right . . . maybe I do think too analytically. :confused:

[MrPete]

Fair and balanced. That's all we're looking for. :)

 

Good review. Thanks.

 

I'm hoping to try RCL myself this year just to see the differences first hand.

[MrPete]

I think Fred has hit on the key to the entire complaint. Fantasy class ships, although the work horses of the Carnival fleet some years back (my personal favorite was always the ELATION), aren't the best ships these days. In many cases they appear "tired" and "worn out". They probably don't TEND to attract the best crewmen either.

 

 

This takes me back when the Fantasy first came out, and I wanted to go on her just to see this new class.

 

I hated it (rough words)! But it was a short cruise, only went to Nassau and Freeport, and something was just missing. Plus we had an inside room (last time I did that!)

 

I waited three years to cruise, and booked the Holiday. Well, a snowstorm kept me from sailing her, but we got a replacement cruise on the latest Fantasy class ship, the Ecstasy. Had some reservations, but went, and I LOVED her!

 

So, I came to blame, in retrospect, the shortness of the cruise, the destination, and the accomodations.

 

I went on to cruise the Imagination (2X) and the Fascination.

 

Maybe I was just in the wrong frame of mind.

 

(I have also come to enjoy the ports of Nassau and Freeport if my ship happens to go there. There is much to see if you look. You'll never see anything if you just walk off the ship.)

 

Now, I enjoy the Spirit class the best.

[mrdood]

Dood, I think he meant first post on the Carnival board??

 

C'mon, I had to work that one in order to even get a bic lighter of a flame and destroy his credibility:p ! The spelling error alone just wasn't working for me.

 

I have to maintain my bad@ss rep:rolleyes:

 

...should have gone with the, "...maybe more posts and questions over here BEFORE cruising to learn how things are done differently would stop the bitchin' on the back end...", but then I would have gotten the "I've been lurking for months" lame excuse;)

[mrdood]

I have also come to enjoy the ports of Nassau and Freeport if my ship happens to go there. There is much to see if you look. You'll never see anything if you just walk off the ship.

 

Right on Mr. Pete! I just have to comment on Freeport, everybody just rags on it and complains "not worthy of even slowing the ship down, let alone stopping", so when I went in December maybe my expectations were really low, we did the dolphin encounter, and shopped - I really want to go back because there is so much more to see and explore that we did not have time for.

 

The port is a shipping port, but where the ship actually docks is beautiful.

[albean99]

Thank You - I did have a good time but I would now choose RCCL over Carnival in almost every case due to the differences I noted above. Just my personal choice on what is important to me.

 

Dave

 

I have to agree with you, Dave, even though I have no complaints about the Conquest itself (our latest Carnival cruise). Mostly I just prefer the entertainment on the RCI cruise I went on. I still like Carnival but would choose RCI all things being equal.

[RICKO]

The other 5 Cruise lines owned by Carnival are ready when you are. Thats what it is all about if you want to pay more you can get more. I would rather be able to cruise more so I chose Carnival.

[RaiderFaninNM]

Thanks for your review! I look forward to all of them, good and bad and lets face it people are different and will have different opinions. I tend to ignore the “all good” or “all bad” reviews as they tend to be mostly flamer type posts, meant to stir the pot. You did a great job and I am glad to hear about the food as I have yet to cruise and Carnival Pride is in our future in October. To me the most important things are the accommodations and the food, as let’s face it we are on vacation here and have already paid for the food so to speak. As far as entertainment while on the ship the days for my wife and myself, are just relaxing and basically doing nothing as our daily lives keep us keep us on the go and time to sit and do nothing are far and few in-between BUT…the nights are a different story, shows are always good and we both like to dance so in that aspect the night life is a good thing. Reviews like yours are informative and the kind we need more of, THANKS!!

Any pics???

[wdw_dave]

Thanks for not flaming me .. I tried to think of every rebutal and answer them in my first post ... lol

 

I have tried the Carnival 7 Day on the Destiny a few years back .... at the time it was one of the newer ships .... that was my 'worst ever' cruise ... to many issues to even mention with bad customer service. I will not rehash that trip. Which is why it took me 5 years to try again.

 

I did comment on how bad the STEWARD was in the comment card (as well as how great my dining staff was). It was the last night so it made no sense to go to the purser.

 

I know the story about the shorter cruises getting the older ships. My expectation of the Fascination were set lower as I knew it was an older ship. But in terms of repair and cleanliness even my low expectations were not meet .... maybe the VERY dated decor did not help. As I have said I have been on the 3/4 day older ship RCCL cruises and the ships are old and little worn but never look dirty IE rust stains in the pool etc.

 

I will make my final note on this topic a positve one for Carnival ..... I am glad they do NOT have that AWFULL green carpet around the pool deck like RCCL does ... I HATE it!! LOL

 

My next cruise is already booked for Jan on the Adventure of the Seas (treating my parents this time around).

 

Dave

[surfklutz]

I guess I take a whole different view of things. When I am the customer having purchased what the seller advertised, I expect to get what they sold. If they don't, then I go to another store- not just another location of that same store - but a different one.

 

Same can be said for cruise lines. If they don't deliver what they have advertised, I choose another one - not just another ship in that same fleet. Too many choices out there to bow to bad service, bad food, bad smells- bad anything.

 

My cruises these days cost more than they used to, but those cruise lines that charge more also deliver a higher quality, more consistant product. And I find that I don't travel any less frequently than I did before, but I enjoy it a WHOLE lot more.

[GoinCruisin]

I guess I take a whole different view of things. When I am the customer having purchased what the seller advertised, I expect to get what they sold. If they don't, then I go to another store- not just another location of that same store - but a different one.

 

Same can be said for cruise lines. If they don't deliver what they have advertised, I choose another one - not just another ship in that same fleet. Too many choices out there to bow to bad service, bad food, bad smells- bad anything.

 

My cruises these days cost more than they used to, but those cruise lines that charge more also deliver a higher quality, more consistant product. And I find that I don't travel any less frequently than I did before, but I enjoy it a WHOLE lot more.

 

You can have a bad cruise on any line... at any given time. So you are saying if you have problems on a cruise, you swear off that line, and the sister line's forever??? You'll eventually run out of choices...

 

And just a question, since you are cruising "those cruise lines", why do you spend so much time on the Carnival board???

[Knights on the Beach]

I will make my final note on this topic a positve one for Carnival ..... I am glad they do NOT have that AWFULL green carpet around the pool deck like RCCL does ... I HATE it!! LOL

Me too! RCI has beautiful ships -- what were they thinking when they decided to use that ugly carpet?? :p

[b8tzm]

Slightly Fair and slightly balanced yet enough negative tilt to let you know it is a rival company employee

[wdw_dave]

Slightly Fair and slightly balanced yet enough negative tilt to let you know it is a rival company employee

 

You are kidding right ???? :confused:

 

Is is so hard to believe that there are people who do not care for the Carnival product? I guess since I am not a RCCL employee I must be a moron !! :rolleyes:

 

I had dinner on the cruise with a couple who did not like RCCL - they thought it was too stuffy. I guess I should have asked for some discounts since they had to have been Carnival staff !!

 

Dave

[Knights on the Beach]

You are kidding right ???? :confused:

 

Is is so hard to believe that there are people who do not care for the Carnival product? I guess since I am not a RCCL employee I must be a moron !! :rolleyes:

 

I had dinner on the cruise with a couple who did not like RCCL - they thought it was too stuffy. I guess I should have asked for some discounts since they had to have been Carnival staff !!

 

Dave

LOL! I met a TA at the wine tasting on Enchantment of the Seas and she asked if we were on our first cruise. I told her we had been on several, mostly on Carnival, but it was our second on Royal Caribbean. She wanted to know what I thought of the Enchantment compared to our Carnival cruises, so I told her the Enchantment was "nice", but we prefer Carnival. You should have seen the look on her face -- I'm sure she thought I worked for Carnival. ;)

[GoinCruisin]

You are kidding right ???? :confused:

 

Is is so hard to believe that there are people who do not care for the Carnival product? I guess since I am not a RCCL employee I must be a moron !! :rolleyes:

 

I had dinner on the cruise with a couple who did not like RCCL - they thought it was too stuffy. I guess I should have asked for some discounts since they had to have been Carnival staff !!

 

Dave

 

Pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain :p

 

Seriously, remember that some people start drinking extra early on Saturdays :D

[b8tzm]

Dont we all work for Uncle Bobby?

[surfklutz]

You can have a bad cruise on any line... at any given time. So you are saying if you have problems on a cruise, you swear off that line, and the sister line's forever??? You'll eventually run out of choices...

 

And just a question, since you are cruising "those cruise lines", why do you spend so much time on the Carnival board???

 

Does it bother you that I am here?

[cruiseblue]

I am new to the Board so I like to go to different ones to get useful info.

Even Carnival. What got you all in a knot anyway? Dave gave a fair and unbiased review.

[PaulMedik]

First a couple of things .....

 

** This is my first post so I know I will already be discounted by many. (I have been lurking for months)

 

** I have been on 7+ cruises so I am not a newbie.

 

** This is my 3nd Carnival criuse ... my last was on the Destiny in 2001. It was the worst cruise I had ever taken and I vowed never to take another Carnival Cruise again. But I thought I would give them a second chance.

 

** This trip was the Facination 3day out of Miami on 3/23. I have been on the Majesty and Sov of the Seas on 3 and 4 day cruises. So I think I have a good short cruise on older ship comparision. And this was actually my 2nd on the Facination the first being a 7day in 1996.

 

** Lastly, for all the 'Carnival can do no wrong folks' ... please do not tell me I should have done this or that to compensate for bad service. I should not have to work at getting good service.

 

I will be mostly comparing this to RCCL which is now my favored line for reasons below. I have also been on Celebrity, Disney, and Princess.

 

-> Service ... the staff is not friendly. They do not say hello to you in the halls or offer any type of conversation. My cabin stewart was horrible. Never saw him and they did not turn down our stateroom on the last night .. did not receive my luggage tags for the last day. I have NEVER had my cabin not turned down while I was in the dining room. (Please do not tell me I should have called him ... I should not have to .. that is the point)

 

-> Tipping ... I do not like the way they do not give you any preprinted slips for pre paid tips to give to the staff.

 

-> Dining room service was excelent. Tony our waiter was outstanding the only good service we received. I noted on the comment card that he should be promoted to a 7day on a newer ship. His assistant was just as good.

 

-> FOOD - Buffet food was good - better than RCCL. Desserts were slightly better on Carnival. Dining room food is much better on RCCL.

 

-> To my surprise the 'extras' seemed to cost more on Carnival. The internet charged you a $3.95 set up fee !!! and .50 to print. Cost me $10 to check into my flight online. Casino charges you 3% to use your SS card. Don't they make enough in the casino?? RCCL does not have this charge. They always seemed to upsell you on the drinks without asking ... ie premium Martini instead of the house ... souviener cups ... RCCL does this occasionally but it was EVERY time on Carnival. I usually let it pass but a couple of times I had to return it.

 

-> Casino - Did not like the 3% charge and the dealers were not very friendly. Craps table was hardly open.

 

-> I thought the cleanliness of the ship was bad. Not a lot of staff cleaning during the day so trash was all about the ship. They did not have enough staff in the buffet to clear tables in a timely manner. Ship is very worn and not well kept.

 

-> Bed was AWESOME .... I am glad RCCL is catching up here. Samples were nice but overblown on this board as a true 'amenity'.

 

-> Bingo seems to be a better deal on Carnival - If you like Bingo.

 

-> Entertainment was good - equal to RCCL and the other lines I have been on.

 

-> I thought the mini golf and sushi bar were great additions since 1996.

 

Overall for me, service and a more upscale enviornment is a big deal for my vacations. So there will be no more Carnival cruises for me. If you do not care about the little things that make up good service (as I see it) then Carnival is an OK product. But if you want a little more upscale cruise than Carnival is probably not for you (remember I have given them 3 tries!!)

 

I hope this helps some people make a decision based on what is important to them in a vacation.

 

One final off topic note ... someone should tell the cab drivers not to try and rip people off ... they lose money in the long run. My driver made me pay the toll at thie pier to MIA even though it is clearly stated that it is included in the fare. I would have given a $6 tip but instead he squeezed the extra $2 bucks from me and that is all he got.

 

Dave

 

 

Dave,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, experiences, and insights. Much appreciated.

[cruiseblue]

Dave, thanks for sharing that and most of all thanks for being honest especially for us newbies. I'd say "Whatever float your boat".

[salty dingo]

Dave is honest and he knows what he wants - a more upscale cruise experience. I have not heard many people claiming Carnival to be upscale, they are more a budget line IMHO, but they are wildly successful. The give lots of people what they want - a great experience at a great price.

 

Maybe one day I will tire of the Carnival experience, but for me, right now, it works!

[hstrybuf]

Dont we all work for Uncle Bobby?

 

Last time I looked, no "baits 'em".

 

Good review Dave. I appreciate your honesty and showing the pros and cons for each line from your perspective.

[K.T.B.]

Dave, you're the second fair review I've seen tonight. Also, your experience was not too dissimilar to mine when I was on Fascination, though not to that extreme. I, too, "never" saw my room steward. Saw him once when we first got to our cabin and that was it. We did have turn down service though, our cabin was always immaculate, and we got the towel animals.

 

One thing though: When did Fascination get a mini golf course..?

[glrounds]

Also, this was your third post, not your first:confused:

 

The post tabulation is in real time, so although Dave was maybe making his 1st post, by the time you read it, he had already posted two more times . . . at this writing he's up to 6. When somebody reads this he may be even higher . . . . :)